Original Article Influence of the 2020 Pandemic on Speedway

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Original Article Influence of the 2020 Pandemic on Speedway Journal of Physical Education and Sport ®(JPES),Vol 21 (Supplement issue 2), Art 121 pp 974– 983, Apr.2021 online ISSN: 2247 - 806X; p-ISSN: 2247 – 8051; ISSN - L = 2247 - 8051 © JPES Original Article Influence of the 2020 pandemic on speedway – managerial implication SYLWESTER BEJGER The Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, POLAND Published online: April 30, 2021 (Accepted for publication April 15, 2021) DOI:10.7752/jpes.2021.s2121 Abstract : The season of the year 2020 was characterized by a number of difficulties and extraordinary organizational and management conditions for many sports disciplines. One of the disciplines most affected by the restrictions caused by the pandemic was motorcycle speedway. Suffice it to say that out of all European leagues, only the Polish league and the Swedish league completed the 2020 season. Moreover in both countries the games started with a long delay and were not preceded by typical preparatory activities for the season, such as sparring matches or individual tournaments. Focusing on Polish highest level league, the PGE Ekstraliga, the paper contains careful statistical and exploratory analysis of data sample encompassing seasons 2015 to 2020, aiming on discovery if and how season 2020 differed from previous ones. This analysis was carried out in the scope of three data sets with different levels of aggregation, concerning meetings, teams and heats of individual riders. The analysis covered the general performance of a whole sample o riders, performance and demographic structure of teams, and results of heat per rider, taking account rider’s nationality and age. The results of the analysis made it possible to identify changes in selected metrics describing the effectiveness of teams and players, probably caused by structural difference of 2020 season. This allows for the formulation of conclusions supporting the management of the teams and clubs in decision making process concerning team’s profile and riders and track preparation. Such conclusions can help coaches mitigate the impact of unfavorable external conditions on team quality and individual player preparation in similar circumstances in a future. Key Words : - team management, motorcycle speedway, data mining, demographic and internationalization, impact of pandemic on sport Introduction Motorcycle speedway (or speedway in short, when misunderstanding is impossible) was created in Australia at the beginning of the 1920s (May, 1978). Speedway in Poland started in 1930 (Błaszkowska, 2018). Currently, speedway in Poland plays an especially important role in the economic, social and sports sense. Contrary to other countries, this sport is very popular in Poland and ranks 9th on the list of sports by popularity (Report, 2021). The meeting of the Polish highest level league, PGE Ekstraliga alone gathered around 700,000 fans in the 2019 season (PGE statistics, 2021). PGE Ekstraliga is considered as one of the most important speedway leagues in a world. Speedway is an individual sport in which trained skill plays a central role, allowing us to understand speedway not as mere sport, but as art (Siitonen et al. 2020). However, the success of the team is the sum of not only the individual efforts of the players, but also depends on the proper strategy of team building and preparation, as well as preparation of a home track. As all of the motorsports, it is an expensive discipline either. There is no doubt that the pandemic season of 2020 has seriously disrupted the functioning of speedway leagues and the training and competition cycle of the riders all over the world. Due to worldwide lockdown only PGE Ekstraliga and Swedish Eliteserien started and finished 2020 season in Europe (season started with significant delay in that countries, 12.06 and 01.08 respectively). In Poland, due to restriction imposed by authorities there were no usual spring, preliminary speedway events (individual tournaments, sparring meetings) and the number of trainings in a track for riders was significantly limited, either. Moreover, even after starting of the league the meetings were held partly without fans and partly with 50% participation of them. Taking into consideration the obvious abnormalities of season 2020 and above mentioned, special importance of a speedway and speedway league for Polish sport and socio-economical life in general, the question of impact of the season’s 2020 conditions on performance of the teams and riders seems to be very important. The main research goal of the paper is to find some distinctive changes of 2020 season’s parameters by mining a statistical data. Such findings could lead to conclusions that could be useful for the management of the teams and decisions making process of building team’s profile, taking into account both demographic aspect and internationalization. As in the other disciplines of sport (see for example Gulak – Lipka, 2020) role of globalization and internationalization in speedway is increasing. Improper management may lead to financial 974--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corresponding Author: SYLWESTER BEJGER, E-mail: [email protected] SYLWESTER BEJGER --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- difficulties, which in turn might result in bankruptcy of the club (Lis, Tomanek, 2020), especially in a macroeconomic crisis environment. Material & methods The following research methods have been used to achieve the assumed research goal: statistical data mining, descriptive, comparative and subject literature analysis. The main body of the research is statistical examination and inference leading to comparative analysis. Time period of the research covers seasons 2015 – 2020 of speedway PGE Ekstraliga in Poland. Author used data 1 collected by the portal http://gurustats.pl . Dataset is divided in three logical parts, namely data on meetings, data on teams and data on riders per meeting. For the purposes of the study, author chose an appropriate subset of the features. Detailed description of variable used in particular part of the research is provided in a Results section. For the research the following exploratory methods have been used. Statistical visualization (histograms, scatter plots and a kernel density estimate (KDE) plot). A histogram aims to approximate the underlying probability density function that generated the data by binning and counting observations. Kernel density estimation (KDE) plot smooths the observations with a Gaussian kernel, producing a continuous density estimate (Hastie, et al. 2009). Selected statistical tests used: D’Agostino and Pearson’s (1973) omnibus test of normality, Epps-Singleton (1986) ES test whether two samples are generated by the same underlying distribution, equality of variance Levene (1960) test. Levene’s test is an alternative to Bartlett’s test in the case where there are significant deviations from normality. In a part of the research connected with cluster analysis the Kruskal-Wallis H-test (2001) was adapted. This test is a non-parametric version of ANOVA and tests the null hypothesis that the population median of all of the groups sampled from are equal. For correlation assessment the Spearman (1903) rank-order correlation coefficient was used. This test is a nonparametric measure of the monotonicity of the relationship between two datasets. Unlike the Pearson correlation, the Spearman correlation does not assume that both datasets are normally distributed. To calculate Spearman rs for a sample of size n, values of variables Xi and Yi are converted to its ranks rg X and rg Y and use to compute: (1) where: cov( rg X, rg Y) is the covariance of the rank variables, rgX , rgY are the standard deviations of the rank variables. Important part of the research is the cluster analysis. For that task K-Means algorithm (1957, 1965) was used. The K-Means algorithm divides a set of ͈ samples ͒ into k disjoint clusters ̽, each described by the mean ͞ of the samples in the cluster. The means are called the cluster “centroids”. The K-Means algorithm aims to choose centroids that minimize the criterion so called inertia, which is within-cluster sum of squares: (2) Inertia can be recognized as a measure of how internally coherent clusters are. The number of clusters k can be determined according to inertia or mean silhouette coefficient over all the instances. An instance's silhouette coefficient is equal to ( ͖−͕)/max( ͕,͖) where ͕ is the mean distance to the other instances in the same cluster (it is the mean intra-cluster distance), and ͖ is the mean nearest-cluster distance, that is the mean distance to the instances of the next closest cluster (defined as the one that minimizes ͖, excluding the instance's own cluster). The silhouette coefficient can vary between -1 and +1: a coefficient close to +1 means that the instance is well inside its own cluster and far from other clusters, while a coefficient close to 0 means that it is close to a cluster boundary, and finally a coefficient close to -1 means that the instance may have been assigned to the wrong cluster. Results The first part of the empirical research starts with analysis of the meetings in a sample period. The main research question was whether the 2020 season was statistically significantly different from other seasons in terms of overall results and general performance
Recommended publications
  • August 2005 in This Issue— the V8-60 Car Is Coming Home
    Pit Notes Issue no. 24— August 2005 In this issue— Personality parade features Jim Oliver (1951) and Gavin Webster (1970’s) Kilbirnie Speedway 1929 / 39 and also Kevin Hayden (Taita rider) Photo below is the ex Shock Holmes V8-60 in Australia passing the famous ex Jack Brabham V- twin powered midget. The V8-60 car is coming home !! Read the news on page 9. Long track Final in NZ cancelled —see page 9 “PIT NOTES” is the official newsletter of the :- Taranaki Historic Speedway Association Inc. PO Box 4052, New Plymouth Views expressed are those of the editor or contributor and not necessarily those of the club executive or mem- bers. Contributions by members or friends are welcome. Items by editor tend to be open wheel and bikes. The editor would welcome contributions on early saloon/ stock/sprint speedway cars. Editor—–Max Rutherford (06) 7589007—[email protected] This newsletter is © copy write to Taranaki Historic Speedway Association Inc. Permission to use material from this newsletter can be obtained from the editor. Visit our web site at http://www.historicspeedway.co.nz P-2 Officers of the ass., Presidents report.— President, Laurie Callender Our August meeting was very well attended and the new venue and Tuesday evening 06-762 4012 hm. appears to very popular. It was great to see so many new faces and hear the speedway [email protected] stories and many “wins” these people had. This is what our club is all about. Vice President and Historian. Our speaker for the night was Lew Martin who spoke on his involvement at Wai- Dave Gifford 758 8941 hm.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Opportunities for Sports Marketing and Consultancy Services to 2022
    Global opportunities for sports marketing and consultancy services to 2022 Ardi Kolah A management report published by IMR Suite 7, 33 Chapel Street Buckfastleigh TQ11 0AB UK +44 (0) 1364 642224 [email protected] www.imrsponsorship.com Copyright © Ardi Kolah, 2013. All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publisher. 2 About the Author Ardi Kolah BA. LL.M, FCIPR, FCIM A marketing and communications practitioner with substantial sports marketing, business and social media experience, he has worked with some of the world’s most successful organisations including Westminster School, BBC, Andersen Consulting (Accenture), Disney, Ford, Speedo, Shell, The Scout Association, MOBO, WPP, Proctor & Gamble, CPLG, Brand Finance, Genworth Financial, ICC, WHO, Yahoo, Reebok, Pepsi, Reliance, ESPN, Emirates, Government of Abu Dhabi, Brit Insurance, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Defence Academy, Cranfield University, Imperial College and Cambridge University. He is the author of the best-selling series on sales, marketing and law for Kogan Page, published worldwide in 2013 and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and Chair of its Law and Marketing Committee.
    [Show full text]
  • Motorcycle Speedway Motorcycle Speedway
    Bringing Motorcycle Speedway back to Canberra! Bringing Motorcycle Speedway back to Canberra. 24 Empire Management Why Ziggy's? Services Ziggy’s is a family-owned business with traditional family values. We specialise in retail but also provide generous discounts on carton lots for catering or large family groups. We also cater for special requests when possible. Our staff have over 200 years combined experi- ence in the fruit and vegetable industry and welcome your enquiries. Our Guarantee to You: Ziggy’s has a long tradition of supplying the Freshest and Best Quality, Value for Money produce in Canberra and if for any reason you are not completely satisfied with Cleaning Contractors your purchase Ziggy’s will cheerfully replace it to your total satisfaction. Commercial & Industrial Fyshwick, ACT (02) 6228 1777 As part of our commitment to customer service, Ziggy’s provides free seasonal recipe leaf- lets and in-store fresh fruit tastings. Postal Address PO Box 105, Fyshwick ACT 2609, Australia 2 23 Recommended Reading/Browsing List Contents Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, FIM Standards for Track Racing Circuits (STRC), FIM, Geneva, 2010. Bulls Roar! .................................................................................. 5 Greyhound Derby, http://www.greyhoundderby.com/Brief%20History%20of%20British%20Speedway.htm The Current Club ......................................................................... 8 Hoskins, I., History of the Speedway Hoskins, Vintage Speedway, Clipsham, 2000. Motorcycling Australia, 2010 Manual of Motorcycle Sport, Motorcycling Australia, Melbourne, 2010. Potential Options for Bringing Speedway back to Canberra ......... 9 Patrick, M., Speedway through the Lens of Mike Patrick, Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2003. Existing Venues .......................................................................................... 11 Shepherd, J., A History of Australian Speedway, Frew Publications, Sydney, 2003. Greenfield sites .........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 50S Bulo Article OCR'd
    “ BULAWAYO SPEEDWAY and CYCLE SPEEDWAY in the 1950's ” b by Graham Radue (Reproduced from 'Rhodesian Worldwide' magazine of 3.1.2010, for Speedway-SA.com) Reading through Frances Grant's interesting account of motorcycle Speedway in Rhodesia in 1970 brought back many happy memories of the sport which was originally introduced to Bulawayo in 1953. Bulawayo was always famous for its road racing motorcycle stars such as Mick Gammon, Ken Robes, Charlie Harrison, Bertie Hall, Gary Hocking, Jim Redman, Alan ('Buddy") Harris and Bruce Beale to name a few, so it was not surprising then that Speedway would also find a firm foothold in the city. The Rhodesian Speedway Association (a non-profit making organization under the chairmanship of prominent Bulawayo eye specialist, Dr. J. C. (Jack) Greenwood) was formed and they organized the first cinder track meeting for the Bulawayo Agricultural Society and the South African Speedway Riders Association - it was held under floodlights at the Bulawayo Showgrounds and some 12,000 spectators turned up to watch the inaugural meeting which was billed as "the World's most thrilling sport." The meeting was opened by Lt. Col. N.B. Everard, General Manager of Rhodesia Railways, and there was a ceremonial entry to the arena of the specially constructed JA P speedway machines, riders and track officials, plus renderings by the Bulawayo Caledonian Society. Thrills and spills aplenty and flying cinders were enjoyed by the crowd and the smell of "Castro' R" filled the air. That first meeting saw a test match arranged between riders from the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia.
    [Show full text]
  • Case for Speedway in Canberra
    Canberra Bulls Speedway Club ___________________________________________________________________ The Case for Speedway in Canberra Discussion Paper December 2011 1 Contents Page Overview 3 Section 1 – Background 3 1.1 Alignment 4 1.2 Vision 5 1.3 Values and Commitment 5 1.4 Strategic Framework 5 Section 2 - Business Model 7 2.1 Facility Comparison 7 2.2 Participation 8 2.3 Events 8 2.4 Community and Commercial Benefits 9 2.5 Track Requirements 9 2.6 Possible Locations 11 Section 3 - Financials 12 3.1 Capital Costs 12 3.2 Recurrent Costs 12 Section 4 – Support and References 15 Appendices Appendix 1 – Canberra Bulls Strategic Plan 2013 -2016 Appendix 2 – Canberra Bulls Speedway Inc –Brochure Appendix 3 – ABS spectator participation statistics Appendix 4 – MNSW Speedway Officials Accreditation System Appendix 5 – MNSW Speedway Track Standards Appendix 6 – ACTPLA Noise Guidelines Appendix 7 – Air Sine airfence quotation Appendix 8 – Cox Architecture Stadium Design Appendix 9 – Mordek sound-proof fence quotation Appendix 10 – Mark Webber Letter of Support 2 Overview Purpose The purpose of the Case for Speedway is to identify a need to develop the sport in the ACT, clarify the goals and objectives of the Canberra Bulls Speedway Cub (immediate, medium term and long term) and provide recommendations to assist in achieving these goals and objectives. The Case for Speedway should be read in conjunction with the Canberra Bulls Speedway Club Strategic Plan 2013-2016. Summary In returning speedway to the ACT, the Canberra Bulls Speedway Cub has identified as its key goals the following: Grow participation in the sport particularly in the areas of juniors, women and other targeted groups including indigenous and multicultural groups Conduct regular training and competition Provide supporting structures and resources including officials, coaches and club administrators Attract major events to the ACT The key enabler in delivering these goals is securing a suitable track.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Program Here
    1 PINJAR PARK SPEEDWAY Make Smoking History Pinjar Park is a smoke free venue, please do not smoke in the venue 2 PINJAR PARK SPEEDWAY WHATS INSIDE !!!! PRE RACE ACTIVITY Officials & Volunteers 4.00PM Scrutineering of All Solo’s & Sidecars Junior Program Events and Riders 4.30PM Junior Program Main Heat Events and Riders 6.00 Riders Brief 6.55 National Anthem 7.00 Main Event Commences REMINDER RAIN & POSTPONEMENTS Spectators are reminded that speedway is a danger- Should it be necessary, owing to rain, electrical fault or ous sport and as such the general public are not whatever reason, the Speedway Committee deems permitted into the Pit area unless they have the rele- necessary to cancel or postpone a meeting after the public has been vant Speedway insurance, which must be provided admitted to the venue and before a race has been completed, all paying to the security before entry can be obtained. patrons will be issued with a run out pass to be used at the next meet- ing. The waiver form must be signed. Under NO circumstances will cash refunds be allocated IMPORTANT NOTICE MOTOR SPORT IS DANGEROUS AND INVOLVES RISKS AND DANGERS TO PARTICI- PANTS AND SPECTATORS Section 74 of the trade practise act (”the act”) implies a warranty of due care and skill into contracts for the supply of services to consumers as defined in the act. Where such a warranty applies it cannot be excluded. Subject to the provisions of section 74 of the Act, if applicable, all persons entering this venue do so at their own risk and neither the owners or lessees not the promoters, sponsors, participants or other persons involved in any way in the running or promotion of any event of events at this venue (“the promoters”) will be liable for either in tort or contract for any personal injury or loss of property to any person, whether caused by negligence of the promoters or otherwise.
    [Show full text]
  • Investment Prospectus Mildura Motorsports & Community Precinct: a Project of Mildura Rural City Council
    Investment Prospectus www.mildura.vic.gov.au Mildura Motorsports & Community Precinct: a project of Mildura Rural City Council. Authorised by: Mildura Rural City Council 79 Deakin Avenue MILDURA 3500 (03) 5018 8100 www.mildura.vic.gov.au August 2018 Edition 3 Content The Project ........................................................................................... 05 Our Economy ...................................................................................... 07 Our Region ........................................................................................... 09 Motorsports History and Participation................................................. 11 Background .......................................................................................... 12 Development Proposal ........................................................................ 15 Full Master Plan .................................................................................. 17 Stage One Development ..................................................................... 19 Stage One Proposed Funding Mix ...................................................... 20 Investors .............................................................................................. 22 Government ........................................................................................ 25 Private and Community Investors ...................................................... 27 Support and Advocacy ........................................................................ 28
    [Show full text]
  • GRAND OPENING E^Size 6
    PAGE TEN - B - MANCHESTER EVENING HERALD. Manchester. Conn , Fri,, March M 1977 Town seeking time extension M a n c h e s t e r hospital notes. The top of the news Discharged Tuesday: HARTFORD — Southern New Compiled From United Press International on drinking water standards Coventry; Barbara England Telephone Co. plans to MANCHESTER, N.H. - Sen. Martha MacDonald, 385 W. Humphrey, WllUngton; Anna Thomas J. McIntyre, D-N.H., Egyptian President Sadat’s visit Center St.; John O’Leary, 36 request a $60 million-$70.million a potential adversary. Jagjivan Mlkchounene, 49 White Rd., expressed strong opposition in less than two weeks. Ram, who campaigned with Desai By GREG PEARSON Washington Ave.; Carol Ellington. rate hike, enough to raise residen­ “Without filtration plants, there is “It’s not unrealistic,” he said of Benedict, 180 Burnside Ave., tial bills $2 a month. Friday to the concept of un­ against Indira Gandhi agreed to Herald Reporter no way to come close to meeting the the timetable. Also, Kathleen Greco, East- ionizing the U.S. armed forces. PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Two NEW YORK — A Muslim gun­ East Hartford; Donna ford; Leslie Letendre, 49 WASHINGTON - Gerald .serve, but then backed out. The Town of Manchester is in the standards,” he said. A study done If the extensions for odor, color men arrested last month in con­ man takes four hostages at a city Cordeira, 52 McKee St.; Linda Buckland St.; Maxine r HARTFORD — It’s a tossup Ford’s three-day visit to process of applying for an extension recently by Weston & Sampson, a nection with a “Teen Challenge housing office because his family and turbidity are granted, the town Coville, Enfield; Margaret Hutchinson, 15 SUndish Rd., whether the legislature will ban BOSTON — Massachusetts At­ Washington was steeped in ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — before new federal drinking water Boston engineering firm, has should have little trouble meeting the Minor, 94 High St.; Bemardi Club” which offered prizes to was evicted from its home, but Ellington; Jonathan Borgida, throwaway bottles in Connecticut torney General Francis X.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018/19 Victorian Speedway Calendar
    2018/19 VICTORIAN SPEEDWAY CALENDAR 1 SPEEDWAY AUSTRALIA CONTACT DETAILS Head Office: 287 Payneham Road Royston Park South Australia 5070 Postal Address: PO Box 269 Stepney South Australia 5069 Phone: 08 8139 0777 Fax: 08 8363 7977 Email: [email protected] Website: www.speedwayaustralia.org We’re proud to promote the following events:- 2 3 VICTORIAN TRACKS CALENDARS BY TRACK Avalon Raceway, Geelong 5 Blue Ribbon Raceway, Kalkee 6 Drouin Speedway, Drouin West 7 Laang Speedway 8 Mid-Western Speedway, Darlington 9 Nagambie Speedway 10 Nyora Raceway 11 Premier Speedway, Warrnambool 12 Simpson Speedway 13 Southern 500 Speedway, Portland 14 Speedway Wangaratta 15 Timmis Speedway, Mildura 16 Wahgunyah Speedway, Wahgunyah 17 Western Speedway, Hamilton 18 Adjacent – Borderline Speedway, Mt Gambier 19 Adjacent – Heartland Raceway, Moama 20 SPEEDWAY KART CALENDARS Melbourne Speedway Kart Club 21 Sunraysia Dirt Karting Assn, Mildura 22 Yarra Valley Speedway Kart Club 23 CALENDARS BY MONTH Sept/Oct 2018 24 November 2018 25 December 2018 27 January 2019 29 February 2019 31 March 2019 32 April 2019 34 May 2019 36 June 2019 37 4 AVALON RACEWAY, GEELONG Track Address: 210 Old Melbourne Rd, Lara VIC 3212 Postal Address: 31 Ryrie St, Geelong VIC 3220 Website: www.avalonraceway.com.au Facebook: facebook.com/avalonraceway.theplaceforpace Email: [email protected] Phone: 03 5229 8778 or 0418 160 985 (Jeff Drew) 2018/19 CALENDAR Sun Aug 26 39th Annual Swap and Sell Sat Oct 6 Practice Day - All Classes Sat Oct 13 Eureka Garages & Sheds
    [Show full text]
  • 2012 Team Racing Sponsorship Proposal
    2012 Team Racing Sponsorship Proposal Speedway Sidecars is a motorcycle sport involving 4 teams consisting of a rider and a passenger competing over 4 laps on an oval shale track. Rules are governed by the national speedway federation and are not dissimilar to conventional speedway rules. Speedway Sidecars is most popular in Australia although in Great Britain it also has a strong following. Speedway sidecar events are also held in New Zealand, South Africa and United States of America. Because of the nature of the sports hotbeds being spread so wide across the globe, organising an official World Championship has been an arduous task, though in 2006 the first successful Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme or (FIM for short) World Track Racing Sidecar Championships (Sidecar Gold Cup) were held at Isle of Wight Speedway stadium. The event was screened live on Sky Sports. Racing speedway sidecars involves a rider and a passenger mounted on a 1000cc purpose built, three-wheeled sidecar outfit. The passenger of the machine is as much involved in the race performance as the rider. The two members of the sidecar team work in unison to ride the outfit as best they can. Speedway circuits are a loose shale surface and therefore traction is most important. The passenger plays a major part in controlling the amount of traction being created on the rear wheel. He does so by moving his weight forwards, backwards and sideways (either in to or out of the machine). The outfit only ever turns right so the passenger only finds himself on the right hand side of the outfit.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume 13 No.3 December 2010 Edition No.51
    The Speedway Researcher Promoting Research into the History of Speedway and Dirt Track Racing Volume 13 No.3 December 2010 Edition No.51 The Last Meeting at Walthamstow Alan Bates recalls the last meeting at the short lived venue which is or is due to be demolished and redeveloped. Speedway was introduced to Walthamstow on 16th August 1934 when the Lea Bridge Promotion was switched from Leyton. Eight meetings were staged at the Chingford Road track that season but the sport did not return then next year. It wasn‟t until 1949 that the track re-opened and Walthamstow joined the National League Second Division, the only London team operating at that level. They followed with two more seasons at the same level. Due to many factors, especially runaway home wins which caused attendances to drop and the high entertainment tax, the track closed after the 1951 season. In all, 96 meetings were staged at Walthamstow and, of the 90 team matches, 71 were won, 2 drawn and 17 lost. There were 6 open meetings (World Championship rounds etc) and during that time only 1 meeting was rained off (v Oxford on 6th August 1951). The final match was a Second Division fixture against Edinburgh on Monday 8th October 1951. The Wolves could only hope for third place in the final table if Edinburgh lost 2 of their last four matches and if Coventry lost 1 of their last 2 matches. Jack Young, the recently crowned World Champion, who had notched 4 maximums from his previous 5 League matches, won the first heat with partner Harold Fairhurst second to give the Monarchs a 5 – 1 lead.
    [Show full text]
  • Inquiry Into Motor Recreational Activities
    Inquiry into Motor Recreational Activities ZĞƉŽƌƚEŽ͘42͕ϱϲƚŚWĂƌůŝĂŵĞŶƚ Transport and Public WorksŽŵŵŝƚƚĞĞ ƵŐƵƐƚϮϬϮϬ Transport and Public Works Committee Chair Mr Shane King MP, Member for Kurwongbah Deputy Chair Mr Ted Sorensen MP, Member for Hervey Bay Members Mr Don Brown MP, Member for Capalaba (from 19 May 2020) Mr Colin Boyce MP, Member for Callide Mr Robbie Katter MP, Member for Traeger Mr Joe Kelly MP, Member for Greenslopes (from 20 February 2020 to 22 April 2020) Mr Bart Mellish MP, Member for Aspley Mr Lance McCallum MP, Member for Bundamba (from 22 April 2020 to 19 May 2020) Mrs Jo‐Ann Miller MP, Member for Bundamba (to 20 February 2020) Committee Secretariat Telephone +61 7 3553 6621 Fax +61 7 3553 6699 Email [email protected] Technical Scrutiny +61 7 3553 6601 Secretariat Committee webpage www.parliament.qld.gov.au/TPWC Acknowledgements The committee acknowledges the assistance provided by the Department of Transport and Main Roads. Notes Please note that all in‐text references have been removed. Refer to original source for more information. All Acts referred to in this report are Queensland Acts unless stated otherwise. During the course of the inquiry, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Limited (CAMS) changed its trading name to Motorsport Australia. The two names are used interchangeably throughout the report. Inquiry into Motor Recreational Activities Contents Abbreviations v Chair’s foreword xii Recommendations xiii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Role of the committee 1 1.2 Terms of reference 1 1.3 Inquiry process
    [Show full text]